ROQUEFORTE

Roqueforte is a fantastic chamber ensemble album and the music here ranges from angry to depressing; very moody and red, much like the cover and album title suggest. Every time I listen to this album, I conjure images of a snake-charmer who is angry at the world, and him and his venomous friend seek revenge in bloodshed. The music on this album could very well be a soundtrack to my silly mental imagery, but this material definitely stands on its own as a fantastic piece of art.

This chamber ensemble's dark playing is unique with the accordion, which give all of this dark music a very weary touch and a folk music feel. The quality of this chamber rock sounds to me like it has great influence from Buenos Aires' tango master Astor Piazzolla, and that isn't only because of the accordion present (Piazzolla played the bandoneón, but you know...). The same colors and textures used on these tracks have a unique combination of South American modern classical and European folk music, though I'm probably the only person that gets that impression.

Some of these tracks are slow and beautifully dark, some are quite fiery and angry. And though the compositions here are fantastic with lots of great passages that really stick out, and the players are incredible, there are a few short filler tracks present that serve only the purpose of being annoying and "filling". Besides that minor gripe, which I actually have with most music, this is a seriously beautiful and moody album. This soundtrack to your rainy-day killing spree is highly recommended.